Volcano

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This article is about the geological feature. For other uses, see Volcano
(disambiguation) and Volcanic (disambiguation).
For broader coverage of this topic, see Volcanism.
A volcano is a rupture in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that
allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the
surface.

Earth's volcanoes occur because its crust is broken into 17 major, rigid tectonic
plates that float on a hotter, softer layer in its mantle.[1] Therefore, on Earth,
volcanoes are generally found where tectonic plates are diverging or converging,
and most are found underwater. For example, a mid-oceanic ridge, such as the Mid-
Atlantic Ridge, has volcanoes caused by divergent tectonic plates whereas the
Pacific Ring of Fire has volcanoes caused by convergent tectonic plates. Volcanoes
can also form where there is stretching and thinning of the crust's plates, e.g.,
in the East African Rift and the Wells Gray-Clearwater volcanic field and Rio
Grande Rift in North America. This type of volcanism falls under the umbrella of
"plate hypothesis" volcanism.[2] Volcanism away from plate boundaries has also been
explained as mantle plumes. These so-called "hotspots", for example Hawaii, are
postulated to arise from upwelling diapirs with magma from the core�mantle
boundary, 3,000 km deep in the Earth. Volcanoes are usually not created where two
tectonic plates slide past one another.

Sabancaya volcano, Peru in 2017

Cordillera de Apaneca volcanic range in El Salvador. The country is home to 170

volcanoes, 23 which are active, including two calderas, one being a supervolcano.
El Salvador has earned the epithets endearment La Tierra de Soberbios Volcanes,
(The Land of Magnificent Volcanoes).

Cleveland Volcano in the Aleutian Islands of Alaska photographed from the

International Space Station, May 2006
Erupting volcanoes can pose many hazards, not only in the immediate vicinity of the
eruption. One such hazard is that volcanic ash can be a threat to aircraft, in
particular those with jet engines where ash particles can be melted by the high
operating temperature; the melted particles then adhere to the turbine blades and
alter their shape, disrupting the operation of the turbine. Large eruptions can
affect temperature as ash and droplets of sulfuric acid obscure the sun and cool
the Earth's lower atmosphere (or troposphere); however, they also absorb heat
radiated from the Earth, thereby warming the upper atmosphere (or stratosphere).
Historically, volcanic winters have caused catastrophic famines.